NFL aims to make example out of Chiefs after Week 1 sideline altercation with Ravens

Per NFL insider Tom Pelissero, the Kansas City Chiefs organization has been fined $100,000 for tight end Peyton Hendershot's sideline shove on Baltimore Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith during their Week 1 matchup. Hendershot has also been fined for $5,472.

The incident occurred during the fourth quarter when quarterback Patrick Mahomes scrambled to the sideline. Smith shoved Mahomes to the ground after he was already well out of bounds, then Hendershot gave a one-armed shove to Smith. Pelissero shared the clip of the play, which you can view below:

You can interpret Hendershot's shove a couple of different ways. First, Smith nearly ran into him, so it's possible that Hendershot was simply just trying not to get ran over by Smith. Secondly, you could say that Hendershot was defending Mahomes for Smith's clear late hit on him.

Regardless of what Hendershot's motivation was, this is a pretty weak fine from the NFL. Hendershot only used one arm, and he barely made any contact. Smith, on the other hand, should have been fined for his late hit on Mahomes. Smith even gave himself away by throwing his arms up in the air as though he was expecting to be penalized. To make matters worse, he wasn't even flagged.

NFL officials and the league itself have been wildly inconsistent with these situations, much to the frustration of players and fans. It seems clear that the NFL is trying to make an example out of the Chiefs for having no tolerance for physical altercations after the whistle. The only problem with that is sometimes there's too much grey area to establish what the player's intent and motive was.

It's also puzzling as to why the Chiefs' organization was also fined in addition to Hendershot's fine. Hendershot will appeal, but that will be an uphill battle. Unfortunately, there probably isn't much hope that the league will find consistency with these types of issues.

Related: Andy Reid shares his thoughts on the Chiefs' WR room following Hollywood Brown going on IR